“One can find a job in Syria. The problem is that the only job available is that of a killer. You could get a Kalashnikov and decide which side you want to start killing for.” — A Syrian refugee in Belgrade

In a recent open letter, Academic Stands Against Poverty (ASAP) challenged the European Union member states and their trans-Atlantic partners to resolve two major issues: ensuring the safety of all refugees and addressing problems that fuel the ongoing refugee crises. The international association argued that our morality would be measured by how swiftly and successfully we accomplish these tasks.

Canada should not turn a deaf ear to this call. Our government should show political will to protect the innocents under fire. It should also assess its contribution to the crisis that created the refugee problem and step out of the rigid ideological confines which justified such contributing.

I say this while remembering an old saying, “If wishes were horses, beggars might ride.” It is one thing to hope that addressing these issues could turn tragedy into a positive global legacy. How realistic such hopes are is quite another.

Notwithstanding the most recent painful compromise on the refugee quotas, many EU member-states have opted for time-honoured methods in dealing with the unwanted other: barbed-wire fences, tear gas, riot police, and racist, xenophobic and nationalist justifications for repressive policies.

The early response by the British government was rather xenophobic. Both Austria and Germany had decided to close numerous border crossings in hope of managing the flood of refugees. France closed its borders with Italy. Hungary built a barbed-wire fence (the new EU Wall?) along its borders with Serbia. Both Croatia and Slovenia closed their borders.

Desperate refugees are left to gasp for air in the no man’s land between rail tracks leading to nowhere while barbed-wire protects the EU wonderland.

All this was accompanied by statements that smack of xenophobia and racism. After he had turned the Keleti train station in Budapest into a concentration camp the Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orban, gave a speech in Brussels echoing the words of the accused war criminal, Bosnian Serb Gen. Ratko Mladic.

In the summer of 1995, Mladic spoke of centuries-old animosity toward the Muslims and about exerting revenge for some 500 years of the Ottoman Empire. In the summer 2015, Orban spoke about Hungarian prejudices against the Muslims rooted in a 500-year old military confrontation and the subsequent experience of Ottoman rule. EU officials remain silent on this matter.

On this side of the Atlantic, instead of being a measure of statesmanship of our political leaders, the refugee crises became a tool in the Canadian election campaign.

Ottawa’s initial response was as pathetic and hypocritical. Stephen Harper’s government sticks to the mantra of accepting 10,000 refugees after a thorough background check. For the three major political parties, this became a magic number to which different sections of the Canadian electorate respond equally well. In an underpopulated country as big as Canada, accepting this many “others” does not sound overly threatening. In summary, not too many and not too few: a true Canadian way!

While Harper’s government policy might not have been designed on a back of a napkin, it certainly sounds as if it was conceptualized at the back of the election poster. This, I believe, holds true for all three major parties competing in the upcoming elections.

The party leaders, however, disagree passionately on the issue of timelines and background checks. This “narcissism of small differences” is all about the electorate in Canada and has little to do with solving the first of two major tasks outlined in the letter by ASAP.

The proverbial elephant in the room is the second task: addressing the root causes of the refugee crisis. Regrettably, discussing Canada’s contribution is barely on the political radar of the candidates. When it comes to our morality and the response to the refugee crisis, all we need, for now, is a short measuring tape. One hopes this changes quickly, and not because of the approaching election.

Srdja Pavlovic teaches modern European and South Slavic history at the University of Alberta. He can be reached at pavlovic@ualberta.ca

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